Dragons: Alliances on Berk
by nukesarge
Summary: Peace has finally come to the Island of Berk. The Outcasts and Hooligans are united, Dagur is in a cell, and Hiccup and Astrid are finally starting to admit more of their feelings toward one another; but what happens when an old enemy that was seemingly defeated somehow returns? It's going to take the Defenders of Berk, the Outcasts and an unlikely 3rd party to defeat this old foe.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

The wind whipped through Hiccup's hair as Toothless continued to climb higher into the sky. It had been three days since Hiccup had woken up, and he and Toothless had become the saviors of Berk by defeating the Red Death. Now, the village had integrated the dragons into their lives extremely well… with the exception of a cantankerous old man named Mildew. Thankfully his home was located far enough away from the village that he didn't give them much trouble. Hiccup's gut summersaulted as he moved Toothless into a downward spiral. At first, that feeling had scared the living daylights out of him, but now he was thrilled by it. Although, there were still a few things that Hiccup hadn't gotten used to. His new leg for instance. Hiccup was a few seconds slow on maneuvering the tailfin into position due to this fact, almost causing them to crash into a sea stack. Thankfully, Toothless held out his wings, allowing them to glide over it.

"Nice going there, bud." Hiccup said as he patted Toothless on the head. "It might take a while for me to get used to this dumb thing. Why don't we land and take a rest?"

Seeming to like the idea, Toothless pointed them in the direction of a cliff. A few moments later, they had landed and Hiccup was encountering yet another problem with his prosthetic. It was stuck in the foot-grip. Awkwardly, Hiccup attempted to get it un-stuck, but to no avail.

"Thanks a lot Gobber." Hiccup said sarcastically as he sat down on Toothless. The foot Gobber had made for Hiccup seemed to work fine, but the new tail he had made wasn't working as well as Hiccup would have liked. Hiccup discovered this the hard way two days earlier during a test run minutes after coming out of a coma. He was still coughing up dirt. Thankfully though, his new friends had been there to help him up.

"Need some help?" a female voice came from above Hiccup. Looking up, he saw Astrid and her Deadly Nadder coming in for a landing.

"Yes, actually, that would be appreciated." Hiccup said as the Nadder landed and Astrid jumped off.

"Another flaw in Gobber's design?" Astrid asked as she studied the problem before her.

"Yep. I've got more modifications to make than I originally thought. By what I can tell, the foot's stuck in the mechanism."

"Looks like it. Well, here we go." Astrid said as she grabbed ahold of the foot and started pulling.

"Yeah, uh, I've already tried that, so-" and before Hiccup could continue, the foot came free, and send Hiccup falling off of Toothless. Astrid covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh. "I'm ok. So, figure out a name for your Nadder yet?" Hiccup asked, as he stood up.

"Oh, yeah! Hiccup, Toothless; meet Stormfly. Stormfly; Hiccup and Toothless." Astrid said as said dragon came over to inspect her new friends.

"Stormfly. I like it." Hiccup said as he scratched her underneath the chin. "What about the others? Have they come up with names yet?"

"Why don't you ask them?" Astrid said as Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins came flying in on their dragons.

"Presenting, the monstrous of all the Nightmare's; Hookfang!" Snotlout bellowed as he jumped off of his dragon.

"Hookfang? That's the best you came up with?" Tuffnut asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Well, it's probably better than yours!"

"Heh, no way. Our dragon's name is way better than 'hookfang'."

"Well, what is it?" Snotlout asked, crossing his arms.

"Well… uh, it's, um." Tuffnut mumbled.

"We don't actually have a name yet." Ruffnut finally said. Hearing this, Snotlout went into hysterics.

"Could you not think of one?" Hiccup asked.

"Well we were kinda busy." Tuffnut said.

"Yeah, our mom ate some bad cabbage soup so she's been barfing all the time." Ruffnut continued.

"And then, for some odd reason she belches after word. It's actually kinda cool." Tuffnut finished.

"Wait a minute… are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I doubt it! I try _not _to think!"

"That explains so much…" Astrid murmured.

"We could name our dragon Barf and Belch!"

"Barf… and Belch. I LOVE IT!" Tuffnut said as he thrust his hands in the air.

"Well, what have you got for us Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked after a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Well, I doubt mine's going to be any better, but here it goes: Meatlug."

"Meatlug? That's dumber than Barf and Belch." Snotlout said.

"Is not!" Ruffnut cried.

"Well at least it's more creative than 'Red Death'." Astrid said.

"Red Death? What's that?" Snotlout asked.

"Y'know, that giant queen dragon Hiccup fought?"

"That's what we're calling it? It wasn't even that red! And I should know, I was on its _face_!"

"Well, it was Gobber's idea and it kinda stuck." Hiccup said.

"Which reminds me, what was it like engaging that thing in one-on-one combat?" Fishlegs asked giddily. Flashing back to the fight in his head, Hiccup's face slightly drained of color.

"I, uh… y'know I don't really want to talk about it." Hiccup said quietly.

"Oh, c'mon Hiccup!" Fishlegs pleaded. "We have to almost completely overhaul the Book of Dragons anyway! The Red Death would make a great chapter-"

"He said he doesn't want to talk about it Fishlegs!" Astrid finally said, cutting him off.

"Oh. Hiccup, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's ok Fishlegs. I'm not exactly ready to talk about it just yet, but I might be someday. I will say though, that I'm glad I'll _never _have to do it again."


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Welcome to the official first chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the prologue chapter, and I enjoyed the speculative reviews from you all. You guys may have an idea of what I'm leading up to, but you have no idea (or at least I hope). I was going to put this up next weekend, but I thought it would be mean to leave you hanging. Really quick, here are a few things I wish to accomplish in this fanfic. 1: I of course want to further continue the Hiccup/Astrid story, and hopefully build on their relationship. 2: I want to build on Hiccup and Toothless' relationship, as I feel that the TV show somewhat focused a tiny bit too much on the relationships between the Vikings, and sorta kinds downgraded Toothless to a minor character, mostly in Season 2. There's a great little scene in this chapter that I hope you guys enjoy. So, I think that's pretty much it for right now. Less than 2 months until HTTYD2! Whoo!**

Berk. If one was to look at a map of the world, they'd probably be hard pressed to find it. Berk itself is located in a barbaric archipelago somewhere between the polar ice caps and present-day Norway. There are several islands in this region, and each has its own little trait that differentiates themselves from the other islands. Outcast Island, for example, has until very recently not exactly been known for the people's trustworthiness. Berserk Island is, well, berserk. Or _was_, rather. Berk itself is actually a pretty peaceful island as far as Viking islands go. The land itself isn't exactly good for too much farming (just livestock and cabbage, really), and the Hairy Hooligan tribe that inhabits the island doesn't start a war to kick off the weekend. Out of all of the islands though, Berk is best known for one thing: Dragons!

Dragons: Alliances on Berk

Hiccup and Stoick the Vast stood on a cliff watching the reconstruction of Outcast Island after it had been greatly damaged in an effort to finally get rid of Dagur the Deranged, chief of the Berserker tribe. This was a sight that Stoick had been waiting years to see; Outcasts and Hooligans reunited and getting along. He had been waiting even before Hiccup had been born. Down below, the Outcasts were using their new dragon training skills to get a herd of Gronkles to add a support beam to the new and improved dragon _training _ring, as opposed to the former dragon _capturing/killing _ring.

"Ah, now isn't that a sight?" Stoick said, regarding the scenery.

"Tell me about it. It's nice to be on Outcast Island without worrying about someone trying to either shoot me, or stab me." Hiccup answered.

"Thankfully those days are behind us. Isn't that right Alvin?" Stoick asked as Alvin walked up behind them.

"Who knew that peace could actually be so nice?" Alvin said as he slapped Stoick on the shoulder.

"Um, we did?" Hiccup said as raised his hand.

"Cheeky kid. Just for that, you have to help me pick out a new name. _Treacherous _doesn't exactly fit me anymore."

"I'll set up something with you and Fishlegs later. He's the person to see when it comes to naming things."

"I'll keep that in mind." A deep rumbling noise turned their attention to a portion of the island where the old dungeons were being torn down. Several Whispering Deaths shot up out of the ground, tearing down a chunk of wall as Toothless directed their work with grunts, tail movements and echolation to pinpoint the best parts to tear down without causing the whole thing to collapse on top of them. "Y'know, it almost makes me sad to tear those down. Just think of all the memories!"

"Like the times where you kidnapped my boy, his dragon, and his girlfriend?" Stoick asked with an amused look on his face.

"Dad!"

"What? I call it like I see it, son."

"Yeah, those would be the memories all right." Alvin answered with a laugh that still sounded a little too evil for the Haddok's liking. "Sorry, force of habit."

Footsteps from behind them caused them to turn around and see Savage walk up behind them, still timid and getting used to the idea that they weren't at war any longer. Savage cleared his throat.

"Sir, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Alvin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's the Zippleback instructors, they've-"an explosion cut Savage off as an excited cry could be heard.

"Tell me again why you brought the twins?" Stoick asked as he turned to Hiccup.

"Hey, they're the experts on Zipplebacks. Experts being used loosely, of course."

"Well, it's like I always say: where there's a fire; there's the twins. C'mon Savage we can handle this." Stoick said as he started down the hill with Savage in tow.

"So is this pretty much what it was like when you two were my age?" Hiccup asked Alvin after Stoick and Savage had disappeared.

"Circumstances aside, pretty much, yes."

"And you two aren't actually brothers, are you?"

"Ha, sorry to hurt you feelings, but no. We might as well have been with how close we were, back in the day, but we aren't."

"Then why did you tell me that?"

"I was just trying to be threatening. A little theatrics goes a long way, I find."

"And when you said you killed my mother…"

"That was a lie as well. I shouldn't have said that though, and I'm sorry."

"So the story about her being carried off in a dragon attack, is true?"

"As far as I know. I was already banished when that happened. I knew her, too. Good woman, your mother. It's a shame you didn't get to grow up with her, but I think she'd be proud of you." Alvin finished with a sad smile.

"Wow, gee. Uh, thanks Alvin." Hiccup said, slightly taken off guard. Off in the distance, the old dungeons finally collapsed as several Whispering Deaths made a final pass through a wall. Toothless looked up at Hiccup on the ridge above as Hiccup called him with a Night Fury call.

"And with that we can start fresh. Why don't you head on back to Berk and get some rest? You've been a great help. As have you Toothless." Alvin said as Toothless scrambled up onto the rocks.

"Thanks, Alvin. Whatdaya say, bud? Ready to head home?" In response to Hiccup's question, Toothless flicked his tail up in the air and lowered his head, giving Hiccup an 'I'm Ready' expression. Hiccup climbed on board Toothless and attached his feet in place. With a flick of his foot, Toothless' prosthetic tailfin flicked outward as the dragon hoisted himself up in the air with his powerful wings.

"Tell Astrid I said hello!" Alvin yelled from bellow as he waved goodbye.

"Bye, Alvin!" Hiccup said as Toothless shot forward. After an hour or so of flying, Berk came into view. Down below at the docks, Hiccup could see Trader Johann's ship docked with the fleet. _Good, Johann is here_ Hiccup thought to himself. _Now I can add those finishing touches to everyone's Snoggletog presents. _Hiccup pulled on Toothless' saddle, signaling him to land at the docks. Hiccup and Toothless touched down with a _plop _a few moments later, causing Trader Johann to jump. He turned around, frightened, with a frying pan held out like a weapon. Realizing who it was, Johann lowered his 'weapon'.

"Ah, young Master Hiccup! You gave me quite a fright there. Come to collect the item's you requested?"

"Have you got them?"

"I am a man of my word!" Johann said as he held out a small chest.

"Thanks Johann. I'll get your payment to you by the time you leave. Planning on coming to the Snoggletog party?"

"You bet your fur vest I am! Berk throws the best Snoggletog celebrations in the whole of the archipelago! It deeply saddend me that I was unable to attend last year."

"That's probably for the best. Astrid accidentally destroyed half the village with dragon eggs."

"Oh dear. I guess that's why they fly out to that island then. I assume they'll be back by the time it's time to celebrate?"

"Oh yeah, I'll go get them that afternoon and then we'll be ready."

"Excellent. Well, I'll see you later Master Hiccup."

"See ya Johann." Hiccup walked up the gangplank, where he was greeted by a curious Toothless, who proceeded to sniff the chest Hiccup was carrying. Hiccup held it above his head to stop the investigating. "I wouldn't do that, bud. There's something in here for you too."

This only made Toothless, more interested, as he almost immediately jumped up on his back legs, grabbed the chest in his mouth, and ran away from Hiccup. With a smile, and his heart filled with holiday cheer, Hiccup raced after his friend. Toothless ran up through the docks and into the village. Running along the row of houses, Hiccup was barely able to keep up. Jumping out of the way of villagers, Toothless jumped up on a house and started running along the rooftops, much to the protest of the occupants.

"Sorry everyone!" Hiccup yelled as he continued to run. "Toothless: down!" Hiccup commanded. Realizing his mistake, Toothless jumped down from a roof, only to end up squashing Mildew, who was in the middle of selling his cabbage. Hiccup ran by, helped the old man up, and continued running after saying a quick 'sorry'. Mildew half heartily shook his staff in mock anger as he smiled. Hiccup finally caught up to Toothless, who found himself cornered at Gobber's blacksmith shop.

"C'mon, bud, give it here." Hiccup said as he grabbed the edges of the chest. After a bit of tugging, Hiccup finally managed to get it out of Toothless' thankfully gummy mouth. Gobber smiled as he walked out of his shop.

"Whatcha doing, boyeo?"

"Trying to get Snoggletog presents sorted out." Hiccup said as he opened the chest and fished out something. "Here, can you add this design to you-know-who's present? You're better at carving than I am." Gobber looked at the design Hiccup handed him.

"I think she's going to like this a lot, Hiccup." Gobber said as he smiled.

"Thanks. C'mon, bud, let's head home." Hiccup said as he and Toothless started walking for the chief's residence. After a short walk through the village, getting hello's and season's greetings from the villagers, Hiccup opened up the front door to the house. Jumping from rafter to rafter, Toothless ended up in the upstairs loft faster than Hiccup.

"You know my dad hates it when you do that." Hiccup said as Toothless warmed up his stone slab with a long plasma blast before turning three circles and flopping down. Hiccup set the chest down, opened it up and removed a mirror. The mirror was a present for his father, who had been complaining lately about having no way to see how to trim his beard. While, this may have been a present for Stoick, Hiccup still had to… test it. Annoyingly, Hiccup had been finding little hairs popping up underneath his chin lately, and while most Viking males sported a full beard, Hiccup preferred the clean shaven look. Using a small dagger, Hiccup neatly sliced the hairs off of his chin, careful to not cut himself. That is, until the door opened.

"Hiccup?" a familiar female voiced called. Startled, Hiccup brought the knife too close to his chin, accidentally cutting it. While it wasn't a large cut, a thin but steady trickle of blood ran down his chin.

"I'm up here, Astrid!" Hiccup called as he quickly stuffed the mirror and knife into the chest. Astrid walked up the stairs and greeted him with a smile.

"Hey- what happened to you?!" Astrid said, alarmed. Hiccup felt the blood running down his chin.

"This? Oh, it's nothing. Just a little bit of a rough landing is all. Toothless' tail fin froze up." Over on his slab, Toothless emitted a don't-drag-me-into-this noise.

"You're a bad liar, you know that, right?" Astrid asked with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"I… fine, I cut myself shaving a second ago when you walked in. Happy?" In response to that, Astrid laughed. "Well, it's good to know that I'm cared for around here."

"Oh you big baby, come here." Astrid said as she grabbed a cloth from her pouch. She turned Hiccup's head upward and proceeded to wipe away the blood. After a moment she looked over her handiwork and put Hiccup's head back in its normal position. "There. All better. You want me to kiss it better?" she said sarcastically.

"Well… if you don't mind." Hiccup said somewhat sheepishly. Astrid simply shook her head and flicked Hiccup on his. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For thinking it was that easy."

"I suppose I deserved that." Hiccup said, rubbing his head. "Remember that we're going to pick up the dragons tomorrow."

"Right. That's actually why I came over. Bucket and Mulch want to ask you a few questions about the rout."

"Ah, well, I better get over there then. Want to come with?"

"Well I am riding with you, so it might help to know the rout."

"Right. I'll be back later Toothless." Toothless smiled in response, then laid his head back down as Hiccup and Astrid walked downstairs and out the door.

**There you have it! The first official chapter! Hope you guys and gals enjoyed! **


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! Less than 30 days till HTTYD2! Ah! I can't wait! Before we get started, I just want to warn you that this chapter may be a tiny bit shorter than the others, as it was going to be longer, but I felt it ended on a good note, and the big Snoggletog celebration scene might be better for the start of a chapter, rather than an end. Also, this may (unfortunately) be the last you hear of me until after June 7thish. School ends on the 30****th**** of May, and the first week of June is camp week for me. I'll try to get a chapter out on May 31****st****, but I'm not making any promises. I hope you guys can forgive me if I don't get one out. Anyway, enjoy!**

The chilly air whipped though Hiccup's hair as he guided Bucket and Mulch's ship through the fog. Having lived on Berk all of his life, Hiccup was used to freezing conditions, and was one reason why he wore a fur vest. The extra passenger behind him helped as well.

"Are we almost there?" Astrid asked as she peered over Hiccup's shoulder.

"Just about. You're really excited to see Stormfly again, aren't you?"

"Do I even need to answer?"

"Probably not."

After a few more minutes of flying, the ship and Toothless emerged from the fog, the dragon breeding ground visible ahead of them. Down below, Hiccup could see Monstrous Nightmares, Hideous Zipplebacks, Deadly Nadders, Gronkles, the occasional Terrible Terror, and a Scauldron or two. No Night Furies though. Part of Hiccup knew that they wouldn't see any Night Furies on the island, but a small part of him had still been holding out hope. Hiccup patted Toothless on the head and motioned them downward. After a few moments, Toothless landed on the island as Bucket and Mulch's ship hit sand. The four Vikings disembarked from their various modes of transportation, all awestruck by the beauty. Bucket and Mulch were almost immediately swarmed by a group of hatchling.

"Hey, Mulch. What happened to these dragons? They seem to have shrunk in the rain." Bucked stated as a young Zippleback started making its way up his leg.

"Bucket, we talked about this. These are baby dragons, and we're here to take them back to Berk."

"Oh, that's right. Come on little dragon, let's go." Mulch watched horrified as Bucket attempted to sit on the young Zippleback in an attempt to ride it. Thankfully, it squirmed out of his grasp and trotted away.

"That's what the ship is for! They're too small to ride!"

"Oh. I knew that. Sorry, little fella!" Bucket called after it. Mulch shook his head in response. Close by, Astrid walked along the island in an attempt to find Stormfly. Hiccup and Toothless trailed behind.

"Stormfly! Where are ya girl?" Astrid yelled. After a few tries, a familiar blue head popped up behind a rock. Letting out a squawk, Stormfly stood up and walked toward Astrid, a handful of hatchlings following her. Astrid ran up and hugged Stormfly's face as they met. "Stormfly! Am I glad to see you! Hiccup doesn't block nearly as much wind as you do." Astrid said a little too loud.

"I heard that!" he replied with a grin. Astrid smiled and shook her head, bending down to greet the hatchlings that were gathering at her feet.

"Hello! Oh, look at all of you! Well, almost all of you." A small purple Nadder was hanging back, away from the group, making sure to stay close to Stormfly. "I guess there's always one, isn't there? We'll just have to name you Spike II." Astrid said as Hiccup approached the hatchling.

"Hey there, don't worry, I won't hurt you. Want to come say hello to Uncle Hiccup?" Hiccup cooed as he held out his hand. The hatchling sniffed his hand, and then pressed his muzzle into the palm. Hiccup picked up the tiny Nadder in his arms to get a good look at it.

"Uncle Hiccup? Seriously?" Astrid asked, amused.

"What?"

"Well, since Stormfly is my dragon, I'd be _grandma_ Astrid, so you'd be _grandpa _Hiccup. Toothless can play uncle."

"Alight, I can live with that. Except this is the second batch of hatchling in as many years, so wouldn't you be _great_-grandma Astrid?"

"Watch it, Hiccup." Astrid said with a death-glare.

"Ok, my mistake." Hiccup quickly said. Amused, Toothless emitted a laugh. "Oh, you think this is funny? Y'know, why don't we introduce the kids to Uncle Toothless."

"Splendid idea." Astrid said as she gently tossed a hatchling at Toothless, Surprised, it spread its wings and landed safely on Toothless' back. Inspired by their sibling, the others rushed forward and started to jump up on the Night Fury's back. Startled, Toothless started jumping up and down in an attempt to dislodge them. This sent him accidentally falling off the short cliff onto the ground some feet below, all of the hatchlings gliding to safety on the wind. Hiccup and Astrid laughed. Toothless jumped back up on the ledge, a mix of anger and embarrassment written on his face.

"We probably need to start loading these guys up on the boat so we can get back to Berk by sundown." Hiccup said once the laughter subsided.

"How do we plan on doing that?"

"Hopefully the same way as last year." Hiccup said as he started eyeing the crowd of dragons. After a moment, he spotted Hookfang along with Meatlug and Barf and Belch. Walking up to them, they immediately recognized him and perked up. He gave each of them a pat and turned toward the group of dragons. "So, are we going to do this like last year? Oh, and you won't have to carry the boat this time."

The dragons noticed Bucket and Mulch standing near a ship with the gang-plank lowered, ready for the baby dragons. Hookfang looked at the other dragons around him and then let out a roar. Stormfly, Barf and Belch, and Meatlug all did the same. All of the dragons on the island looked toward them, and then started herding their young toward the boat. Apparently being the dragons of some of the most important people on Berk had its perks, and granted them seniority among their respective species of dragon. Astrid watched in awe as all of the dragons, minus the Scauldrons, all headed for the boat. Hiccup walked back over to Astrid and watched as she stared at the spectacle with a hand over her mouth.

"You okay, Astrid?"

"This… this is incredible! It's like they have their own little… community or something! It's like _our_ dragons are all the chiefs of their species and then the rest follow what they do. Its… astonishing."

"You sure you're okay? You're starting to sound like Fishlegs." Hiccup said as Astrid punched him in the arm.

"Ha ha. You still gotta admit that this is pretty cool."

"Yeah, tell me about it. You should have seen me last year. Actually, no… it's a good thing you didn't see me last year. I was acting like Fishlegs when we found the Skrill."

"Just minus the whole Dagur and Alvin trying to kill you and the Twins thing."

"Right."

"Well maybe you can bring Fishlegs next year. I bet he'd love to document this in the Book of Dragons."

"Well, I'm actually working on some designs to make a dragon birthing area on the island so the dragons don't have to fly out here every year. That and a firefighting system."

"What about all of the exploding eggs?"

"Yeah, that's the problem. Y'know, it's funny, I got knocked over by an exploading Gronkle egg and I made some remark about how I was glad the eggs didn't hatch on Berk, and what do I see the moment I get back?"

"Blown up houses and a ruined Snoggletog tree. Ugh, don't remind me."

"I still wish I could've seen that look on your face." Hiccup sniggered.

"Well, excuse me for trying to spread some holiday cheer. Maybe I'll make some Yaknog when we get back."

"No! I mean, uh-"

"It's alright, I know it's disgusting. I tried some when everyone started turning it away, and it was gross. Thanks for waiting until I was gone to spit it out by the way."

"Hey, Snotlout is the braver of the two of us. I heard he actually swallowed it."

"Yeah, he took a big swig of it too."

"That explains why he was throwing up later."

Hiccup and Astrid talked for the next hour while the dragons loaded up on the ship. While they talked, Toothless searched the island for any traces of a Night Fury, but did not find any. When all of the baby dragons were loaded up, Hiccup looked around for Toothless, finally finding him sitting under a low cliff with a disappointed expression on his face.

"Hey, bud, what's the matter?" Hiccup asked, stroking Toothless' nose. Toothless looked at him with a set of big eyes. "Oh, you're disappointed that we didn't find any Night Furies aren't you? Yeah, I'm kinda upset about it as well." Toothless emitted a purr and rubbed against Hiccup. Astrid walked around the corner, with an impatient expression on her face.

"Hiccup, come on! At this rate we'll be… what's wrong now?" Astrid asked as she bent down to look in Toothless' face.

"We're just a bit upset about not finding any Night Furies."

"Oh." Astrid paused for a moment and then patted Toothless on the head. "I can't… pretend to feel what you guys are feeling right now, but we'll find some Night Fury buddies for Toothless one day. And if we don't you two still have each other."

"Thanks, Astrid."

"You're welcome. Now, let's go! You know how mad your dad gets when you turn up late." Astrid said as she ran up and jumped on Stormfly's back. Hiccup latched his foot into place.

"Yeah, tell me about it." With that, the dragons took to the sky.

**There you go! Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 3

**New chapter time! This one has a lot of good stuff in it, I think, and I hope you enjoy. Really quick though, I am very excited that DreamWorks officially announced Seasons 3 and 4 of Dragons. However, I am a bit disappointed that it'll be Netflix only, as I enjoy having complete disk sets of things, and this all seems a bit deja vuy with Season 6 of **_**Star Wars: The Clone Wars**_** having been released in the same way, greatly decreasing chances for it being released on disk. And spring 2015?! I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long! Well, at least HTTYD2 comes out in about 15 days or so. Also, I will be at camp June 5****th****-10****th****, and thus unable to respond to any PMs you guys might send me, so just putting that out there that you might want to wait until I'm back if you have any questions or just want to say hey. Make sure to review!**

The band struck up the moment the baby dragons arrived on Berk's shores. Within ten minutes, everyone was in the Great Hall celebrating. There were two things to celebrate that night; the arrival of new dragons and the return of old friends. Upon their invitation via Stoick the Vast himself, Alvin and the Outcast tribe arrived on Berk shortly before the baby dragons to celebrate the holiday. Inside, Hiccup went around the room and gave all of his friends their presents. For Fishlegs, Hiccup got him a book that read 'Book of Botany: by Fishlegs Ingerman' with blank pages on the inside to document all of the flowers he came across, not unlike the Book of Dragons. For Snotlout, Hiccup gave him customized footrests for Hookfang's saddle, as he had complained numerous times about his legs going numb when riding. For the Twins, he gave both of them their own stuffed yak (miniature, mind you) so they didn't have to share one. For Toothless, Hiccup gave him something that was starting to get annoying- sleigh bells.

Toothless bounded around the room as everyone partied and celebrated, his tail jingling left and right, surprisingly on beat with the band. Gobber jingled along with the Night Fury with his own set of bells, which had infatuated Toothless the previous year. Hiccup walked by a set of tables where his father, Alvin, and Spitelout were playing a drinking game. Spitelout had fallen out of his seat from leaning back too far, much to the amusement of the crowd. Alvin and Stoick put down their empty glasses at the same time and shook each other's hands; it was a draw. Hiccup walked around the room again in an attempt to find the last person he had to give a present to besides his father. In one area of the room, Tuffnut was leading a troop of Outcasts in a round of 'Hooligan, Come Out Tonight', while Mildew was on the other side serving Cabbage stew. Finally he located her in a corner of the room, sitting with Stormfly.

"There you are." Hiccup said as he sat down at the table.

"I saw your dad and Alvin just tie in the mead-drinking contest."

"Yeah, I think the only reason they tied is because they weren't competing with Gobber."

"I don't know, he may have played a round or two already." Astrid pointed behind Hiccup to where Gobber was being propped up with Toothless' head as he continued jingling away.

"Oh, Gobber." Hiccup said as he shook his head.

"So the bells were your idea?"

"Yeah. Toothless went nuts over Gobber's bells last year so I thought I'd give him his own set."

"I see. I also noticed the presents you gave to the others. That was really nice of you Hiccup, especially since we didn't get you anything."

"Nah, it's alright. Your friendship is all I need. I… couldn't ask for anything else." Hiccup's cheeks suddenly got slightly red. He cleared his throat. "But, that's actually why I came over here. I remembered how you said you wanted a new dagger when FIshlegs discovered Gronkle Iron and you never got one, so I made you this." Hiccup slid a parcel across the table to Astrid. After looking at it a moment, she opened it and saw a shiny new dagger. On the edges of the hilt were carvings of Deadly Nadders with 'Astrid' written down the side.

"You made this?"

"Well, all but the carvings on the hilt. Gobber made that, but the blade itself I made, yeah. Do you like it?"

"Yes, it's… wonderful. I love it. Thank you." Astrid quickly leaned over and pecked Hiccup on the cheek, leaving both of them slightly red. Hiccup scratched the back of his head.

"So, uh… I think that I may need to help Gobber home." Hiccup pointed to Gobber, who was now lying on the ground, tunelessly singing. "I'll… see you later then."

"Yeah, sounds good. Happy Snoggletog, Hiccup."

"Happy Snoggletog Astrid." Hiccup said as he walked away, before quickly running back and kissing Astrid on the cheek.

Hiccup slept soundly through the night. In the morning however, he was woken up to the sight of Toothless hovering above him.

"Gah! Do you have to do that?" Toothless laughed in response. "I guess you want to go flying, don't you? Alright c'mon." Hiccup jumped out of bed and slipped on his flight suit, putting his fur vest on over it. He mounted Toothless and the two jumped out the window… only to plummet to the ground, realizing that the bell tail was still attached. After a quick swap, the duo were in the air. Hiccup's stomach flipped as Toothless went into a downward spiral. Pulling on the reigns, Toothless' wings spread out into the air, causing them to glide through the air. With a big flap of wings, Hiccup and Toothless soared over a sea stack. Flipping around, Toothless fired at wooden targets contain bull's-eye marks. Each plasma blast hit the target in the middle, reducing each one to splinters.

"Great job, bud. No use getting sloppy even though we don't have to worry about the Outcasts and… Berserkers?" Hiccup said as he was interrupted by a sound that sounded like a combination of an earthquake and thunder. "What was that? It sounded like it was coming from the west."

Toothless turned to the west and started flying. After nearly an hour of flying toward the direction of the sound, Hiccup noticed debris floating in the water. Following the trail, Hiccup and Toothless found themselves upon a destroyed Viking longboat.

"Well, I don't see any cargo or people, so I guess it drifted out to sea and got smashed on some rocks. Although, I don't see any rocks anywhere. That still doesn't explain the noise though." Toothless started pointing them downward, hovering above the wreckage. "What are you doing, bud? There's nothing down- what?!" Hiccup stopped speaking, flabbergasted, at what he saw. Floating on a wooden plank from the ship was the unconscious form of Heather. Hiccup and Toothless raced home faster than Hiccup thought was possible. When Berk came into view, Hiccup plotted course for the plaza where he saw Gothi, Gobber, and his father talking.

"Son! Where have you been? You've been missing out on Snoggletog."

"This is why." Hiccup said as he landed, with Heather in his arms. "We found her drifting in the ocean." Gothi scratched something in the dirt.

"She says to come with her to her house so she can heal her, or she wants an ale. One or the other." Gothi whacked Gobber in the head and wrote something else in the dirt. "Yes, I'm sober. Why do you ask?"

"Never mind that. She needs help, and fast. Gothi, hop on Toothless with Hiccup, you can get there faster." Stoick said. "Hiccup, where did you find her?"

"About three or four miles west of here. We didn't see anyone else."

"Just the same, I'm sending some men to look for more shipwreckies. Now go." Toothless lifted off toward Gothi's house.

Hiccup paced back and forth in front of Gothi's house. Astrid mimicked his movements in the opposite direction, as she was nervous as well. All of the teens were nervous in fact. The last time Heather had been on Berk, it had all been a ruse to get Alvin the Book of Dragons. Even though she had only been doing it to save her parents, everyone was still a little wary about her showing up again. The question was though, why was she here?

"So do we know what we're going to do with her if she's just here to steal the book again?" FIshlegs asked.

"It doesn't make sense." Astrid murmured.

"No we don't Fishlegs. We still have to wait for her to wake up though, something may have actually happened." Hiccup said.

"I think something did happen."

"Why is that, Astrid?"

"It's Battle Strategy 101, never use the same strategy twice. Plus, Alvin is on our side now, it doesn't make sense for her to be here as a pawn of someone else."

"Alvin better be on our side, because if he's not, then I'll punch him so quick, I won't even see me. Or he won't even see me." Tuffnut said confused.

"I am on your side." Alvin said as he walked up. "Besides, if I wanted to _steal _the Book of Dragons, I would've done it myself. I am here, aren't I?"

"Exactly." Astrid said. "So the question is, how did she end up here?"

"Uh, didn't Hiccup bring her back? Isn't that how she got here?" Ruffnut asked.

"Yes, but what happened to her for us to need to bring her to Berk?"

"Uh, a shipwreck?" Tuffnut asked.

"Ugh, would you two shut up?! I'm trying to think here!" Astrid yelled at them.

"Well it's not my fault if the hen came back." Ruffnut said with an exaggerated smirk.

"Wait, what hen?" Tuffnut asked confused. "You always talk about chickens and stuff when Heather is here."

"It's because she's jealous you idiot!"

"I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous?"

"Uh, maybe it's because you like Hi-"

"Everyone! She's awake!" Gobber yelled from the front door, interrupting Ruffnut. Everyone rushed inside, but Hiccup held out his arm, stopping Astrid.

"Hey, what was Ruffnut talking about?"

"It's nothing." Astrid said quickly. "Let's go see Heather."

Inside, Gobber, Gothi, Stoick, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the Twins, Alvin, Hiccup, and Astrid gathered around the bed Heather was in. Gothi started pushing them back with her staff.

"We're crowding her, stand back." Stoick ordered. Gothi handed Heather a cask of water, which she drank eagerly, until she spotted Alvin. She dropped the cup and recoiled in fear.

"It's alright, Heather. Alvin is a changed man, he's not going to hurt you." Hiccup said. Heather coughed and looked at everyone.

"I guess I'm on Berk?" Heather managed to croak out.

"Yes. Toothless and I found you drifting out at sea. What happened?" Heather's facial expression changed from confused to recognition to horror.

"You all have to help me. My island has… has been destroyed."

**Cliffhanger! Anyone want to guess on what destroyed her island? Let me know what you think in the review section! **

**P.S: Ok, I know that the Hiccup-gives-Astrid-a-dagger/weapon-for-Snoggletog thing has been done before, but it's cute every time, isn't it?**


	5. Chapter 4

**How To Train Your Dragon 2 was amazing! Ehem. Sorry, I lost my composure there for a second. Anyway, I though the film was really very good with the only downside being that Drago was a bad villain. Personally, I felt that he wasn't given enough character development to deem why he was evil. Just saying that *SPOILERS* he lost his arm and family isn't enough. Alvin is a better villain by comparison (and he was a pretty good one to begin with). Besides Drago being a bad villain, the rest of the film was great, although I think I'll need to see it again in order to take everything in (no complaints here!). What made it extra special though is that I saw the film a day early since my local theater was doing a double-feature that started at 6 on the 12****th****, hehe. It was also nice since I never saw the first in theaters, so I got to see it on the big screen for the first time in 3D. Wow. I was quite blown away. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! **

Heather awoke to the wrinkly face of an old woman staring at her. Startled, she recoiled in fear, shrinking back into the corner. On one side of the room, two men stood talking about something. One had a puffy red beard while the other had a thin and long yellow moustache. Upon her awaking, they stopped their conversation and looked at her. The yellow mustached one walked over to the door and yelled something. She stared at the bearded one a moment longer and realized that he was Stoick the Vast. The other people that walked in the door she recognized as Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Hiccup, and Astrid. She attempted to speak, but was only able to cough. The old woman started to try to push everyone back with her stick.

"We're crowding her, stand back." Stoick ordered. Everyone backed up upon his command, giving the old woman room to hand her a flask of water. Suddenly feeling quite parched, she drank the water like there was no tomorrow. That is, until she noticed a large man wedge himself through the doorway. He had a blackish grey beard and was wearing a helmet with several spikes and bones sticking out of it. She immediately recognized him as Alvin the Treacherous. She dropped the flask and tried to crawl backward as far as she could go to get away from Alvin.

"It's alright Heather. Alvin is a changed man, he's not going to hurt you." Hiccup said. Heather tried to speak, but could only cough. She looked around at everyone.

"I guess I'm on Berk?" Heather managed to croak out.

"Yes. Toothless and I found you drifting out at sea. What happened?" Hiccup asked. Heather attempted to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was preparing for Snoggletog with her parents and then… horrific memories started to flood her mind.

"You all have to help me. My island has… has been destroyed." She finally managed to say. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and then back to Heather.

"Heather, what happened?" Astrid asked.

"Well, on my island there's a mountain that used to be a volcano. It's been dormant for two-hundred years, but there was an earthquake a few days before Snoggletog….

THREE DAYS AGO

Heather blew dust off of a bowl that had fallen off the shelf and checked it for damage. Finding none, she placed it back on the shelf as the door opened. Her father stepped through and sat down in a chair.

"Hey. How bad is it?" she asked him.

"Oh, not as bad as it could've been. There's a couple of building that were destroyed, but no one killed and no serious injuries. We're lucky." He said as Heather handed him a block of ice to put on his head. "Although, the earthquake broke the seals on the mountain, and the volcano reactivated."

"It's not going to erupt, is it?" Heather asked nervously.

"I don't know. The chief sent a few men up the mountain to see if we're at risk to a lava flow. Still, that mountain hasn't blown its top in more than four generations, so I doubt there's anything to-" an earsplitting scream cut through the air. "Worry about." Heather's mother ran through the door, looking shaken.

"Mom, what was that?"

"No time to explain, we need to get to the ships. Grab only the essentials. We need to leave- now!" Her mother said as she grabbed the bowl from the shelf and a few fish that were cooking on the open fire.

"Why? What's happened?" Heather asked. Before her mother could answer, a roar so fierce that the house shook traveled through the air. The family quickly ran outside to see a massive dragon's head emerge from the volcano, silhouetted against the sunlight. Villagers ran by yelling things such as 'run' and 'Get to the ships! It's our only chance!'.

"Odin's ghost, what is that?" her father asked.

"I need to get to Berk." Heather said quietly as the massive beast continued to crawl out of the volcano.

"What?"

"I need to get to Berk." She said louder this time.

"Why?"

"They'll know what to. They're the only ones in the archipelago that can ride dragons, and Hiccup will surely know what to do."

"I don't know about this." Her father said.

"Would you rather be colossal dragon chow?!"

"Alright. Take the fishing boat. We'll go to the fallback islands with the rest of the village."

"Be safe, honey." Her mother said before quickly hugging her. Heather turned in the direction of her family's private dock. Halfway there, the ground started to shake, causing her to trip. Looking behind her, she managed to see a gigantic foot squash a row of houses as another roar threatened to burst her eardrums. Picking herself off the ground, she continued to run toward the docks. As she reached the boat, she noticed the continued _thud _of footsteps were starting to come in her direction. Realizing there was no way to launch the ship before it got there, she grabbed a crossbow and randomly fired it in the direction of the beast. The arrow must have found a mark, because a roar of pain sounded as the beast turned the other direction. Heather jumped in the boat and unfurled the sail, but nor before realizing that the dragon's tail was ripping through the water and toward the boat.

Unable to do anything, she grabbed onto the boat and hung on as the tail caused the ship to be launched into the air. Heather didn't know how she managed to hang on, but hang on she did, until the boat crashed into the water, several miles away. The last thing Heather remembered before blacking out was a distant roar.

PRESENT DAY

Heather finished her story and looked around the room. Everyone in it stood contemplating the story.

"Well, it's more imaginative than pirates, I'll give you that." Alvin said.

"I'm not making this up!"

"It just doesn't make sense though." Hiccup said. "Why would the Screaming Death attack an island now?"

"Screaming what?" Heather asked.

"Basically it's a giant white version of the Whispering Death." Fishlegs said.

"No, no, this wasn't like a Whispering Death. It had legs, and, and a _body_, and-"

"Six eyes?" Hiccup asked quietly.

"Yeah… how'd you know?"

"I think we've come across this type of dragon before. Fish, go get the Book of Dragons please." Hiccup said with a worried look on his face as Fishlegs ran out the door.

"What are you thinking, son?" Stoick asked.

"I'm thinking that we may have a déjà vu moment on our hands." Hiccup said. Astrid's face lit up as if she knew what he was talking about.

"No, there's no way it can be back." Astrid said.

"There's no way _what _can be back?" Heather asked. Fishlegs ran back in with the Book of Dragons. Hiccup took it from him and flipped through the pages. He stopped on a page and showed it to Heather.

"Is this the dragon that destroyed your island?" he asked. Heather looked at the page and nodded vigorously.

"That's it! That's the dragon!"

"What dragon?!" Stoick roared. Hiccup turned the book toward everyone else in the room, causing them to gasp at what page Hiccup had landed on.

"The dragon that destroyed her island was… the Red Death."

**Cliffhanger #2! How is the Red Death back though?! Tell me what you think in the review section! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello again! Another week, another chapter. Before we get started I want to talk about the soundtrack for HTTYD2. Marvelous. Now that I've had the chance to listen to it several times, I can certainly say it's as good as the original at the very least. There are certain different things I loved about it. First of all, I loved how "Dragon Racing" is basically the HTTYD soundtrack in a nutshell. I also loved hearing the familiar cues from the original film mixed in with the cues from the new one. Drago's theme was certainly very dark and villainous and fit his brooding character quite well. Valka's theme on the other hand is wonderful in the sense that it is very light and heartwarming. And let's not forget "For the Dancing and the Dreaming"! Gets me every time, especially Gobber's part. Probably my favorite new track is "Flying With Mother". For me, "Flying With Mother" is the "Forbidden Friendship" of the HTTYD2 soundtrack. "Where No One Goes" also topped "Sticks and Stones" in every way in my opinion. Still, the jury is still out on which soundtrack is the better one, but much like the film itself, HTTYD2 improved upon HTTYD greatly (and HTTYD was already so great!). Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth. One last thing though; this will be the final chapter until the 19****th**** of July as I will be on vacation and will be unable to update in my usual time frame, so sorry about that. Enjoy the chapter! **

"How can that monstrosity be back? You blew it to bits; we _saw _it explode." Stoick said, unwilling to accept the fact that the beast that took Hiccup's foot could still be around.

"Yeah, that's the best explosion we've ever seen." Tuffnut said.

"And we've seen _a lot _of explosions." Ruffnut finished.

"Well I don't know how it could be back," Hiccup said, ignoring the Twins "but I need to get rid of it."

"_You_? You mean _we_, right?" Astrid asked.

"No, I mean me. Your dragons are fast, but there not as fast as Toothless. Even with his speed things didn't… turn out as well as I had hoped."

"What are you guys talking about?" Heather asked confused.

"We've come across this dragon before. Hiccup managed to defeat it, but he lost his foot in the process." Astrid answered.

"You've come across this dragon before?"

"Well, maybe not_ the_ same one, but possibly one of the same species." Fishlegs said.

"Wait, you think that there's more than one?" Stoick asked.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. How else could it come back?"

"I hate to say it, but I think Fishlegs is right." Hiccup said. "It's the only thing that makes sense about all of this. How could it come back when I essentialy blew it up? The only way that it's possible is if it's another dragon from the same species."

"Oh great. If we keep discovering all of these Red Deaths, I'm going to need a new set of skivvies." Gobber said. Fishlegs gagged at the thought.

"On that disturbing note, I think we need to start working on the rescue plan."

"Rescue plan?" Snotlout asked. "You don't actually want to _train _this thing do you? Look what it did to you the first time!"

"Didn't you hear Heather? Her village is holed up somewhere hiding from the Red Death, so we need to find them."

"I can take you to them." Heather said as she tried to get out of bed. Gothi pushed her back in and wrote something on the ground.

"Sorry, miss, but she says that you need your rest." Gobber translated.

"Well when can I leave?" Gothi scratched in the dirt again.

"The soonest you can leave is a day's time, depending on your condition."

"Good. That gives us time to come up with a plan." Stoick said. "Come on, we should leave her to her rest." Stoick started ushering people out. Everyone walked out, but Snotlout hung back. Gothi raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? Can't I help out?" Snotlout asked innocently. Knowing that it was just a ruse to try to talk to Heather, Gothi whacked Snotlout with her cane. Snotlout covered his head as Gothi continued to whack him until he left. When he had finally gone, Gothi scratched in the dirt. If Gobber had been there to read it, he would have seen that it read 'good riddance'.

Several hours later, a rescue plan had been laid out. While Hiccup went off to do battle with the Red Death, again, the teens would go to where the villagers were hiding out and make sure they were ok. When Hiccup was finished, the villagers would be granted temporary asylum on Berk while the island was being repaired and the village rebuilt. The only problem is that the entire plan rested on whether or not Heather was able to travel, and time was not on their side since the Red Death could start flying around and terrorize other islands, and the next day it was evident that Heather was still in no condition to travel.

"So what do we do now?" Fishlegs asked later that night as they were congregated in the Great Hall.

"Well, whether Heather is able to travel or not, we still need to take care of this beast." Stoick said.

"Agreed. I think we need to modify the plan a bit." Hiccup said.

"How so?"

"I think that while I go to fight the Red Death, you will go with the others to the island where the villagers are hiding."

"Uh, have you forgotten that he _doesn't _have a dragon anymore?" Snotlout asked.

"Yeah, I know. That's why he'll be taking Stormfly."

"Stormfly? If your dad is on Stormfly, then where am I going to be?" Astrid asked.

"You are going to be watching Heather."

"Why am I going to be watching Heather?"

"Because you're the only reason she managed to stay captured. Once we left for Outcast Island, she escaped."

"Well, it was _Bucket _who was in charge of her." Snotlout added.

"And wasn't it because we _all_ left?" Tuffnut asked.

"You two aren't helping." Hiccup finally said. "Besides, we need our best warrior to make sure Heather stays put."

"Then why are you putting Astrid in charge of her? I'm obviously the best warrior here." Snotlout said. Stoick growled in Snotlout's direction. "With the exception of the chief."

"Oh really? You think you can take me on?" Astrid asked angrily.

"Any time, any day."

"How about right now?"

"Prepare to taste the wrath of Snotlout!" Snotlout got up from his end of the table and charged at Astrid, only to quickly be pinned on the ground.

"Ha ha, what a wimp. That would never happen to-" Tuffnut said as Astrid quickly flipped him. Ruffnut laughed at her brother's misfortune and was in turn flipped as well. Astrid popped her knuckles.

"Anyone else?"

"Nope, I'm good." Fishlegs said as he quickly scooted away.

"So that settles it then." Hiccup said.

"Uh, no it doesn't. There is no way I'm just going to sit here while you guys go out and do stuff."

"Hiccup's plan makes sense Astrid." Stoick said, attempting to reassure her.

"Well that would be a first." Snotlout said from the ground. Astrid quickly kicked him in response.

"Stay out of it."

"Astrid, please. The more time we spend arguing about this the more time the Red Death has to do… well whatever it wants to do! Eat an island; maybe obliterate some villages with its volcano mouth. Kill hundreds of people perhaps?" Hiccup said.

"Fine! I'm still not happy about it though."

"You don't have to be. You just need to follow orders." Stoick said. "Now comes the _really _difficult part. Convincing Heather to tell us where her island and people are while she stays behind. I don't think she'll like that very much."

"Would you?" Hiccup said as he got up from the table.

Later at Gothi's house, Stoick's prediction seemed to be proved right, as Heather was not very happy about having to stay behind.

"I'm fine! I can go with you! I can show you the-"A grunt of pain stopped Heather in mid-sentence as she attempted to get out of bed. Her head spun as she tried to stand. Gothi nudged her back into bed.

"You're not going anywhere." Gobber said for Gothi. "You're still severally dehydrated from three days at sea. The only place you're going is back to bed.

"See? She doesn't need me to watch after her." Astrid said defiantly.

"Yes she does Astrid. You think that'll stop her? Think if it were you." Hiccup said.

"No, it wouldn't stop me. I'll stay behind."

"Thank you."

"Which means that you need to tell us how to get where." Stoick said to Heather.

"Fine." Heather said reluctantly. "Get me a map." Fishlegs handed her a map of the archipelago. After studying it for a moment, she looked up. "I need something to draw with." Hiccup reached into his waistband and brought out his journal and pen. Now with pen in hand, Heather began drawing. When she was done, she turned the map back around and handed Hiccup his pen back. "Ok, these are our islands here. The big one is our main island where the dragon is likely to still be. These two smaller islands to the west are our fallback islands for when pirates and tropical storms arrive. They're covered in jungles and hills so it's easier to seek shelter and defend than the main island."

"Why not live there all the time then?" Astrid asked.

"There's not a very reliable food source and the water isn't that clean so we prefer to live on the bigger island."

"Alright then. Now let's get to our homes and get some rest. We're going to need it." Stoick said as he started ushering Hiccup and Astrid out of the shack. "We'll leave at dawn tomorrow, so you'd better say your goodbye's now."

"I'm sorry about this Astrid." Hiccup said when his father was gone. "I'd rather have you right there with us leading the charge but we can't risk having Heather stumble in and becoming a liability."

"It's ok, I understand."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You don't have to promise me that. Promise me that it won't go wrong though, ok?" Astrid asked as they reached the turning point for them to go their separate ways.

"I promise. Astrid I…" _Oh come on, say it Hiccup!_ Hiccup thought to himself.

"Yes, Hiccup?"

"I'll see you later." Hiccup finally managed to croak out as he quickly turned and briskly walked back to his house, mentally kicking himself for not having the guts to say what he wanted to.

**And there we have yet another chapter! What was Hiccup wanting to say to Astrid though? Sound off on what you think in the review section! **

**Quick Note: I know Toothless has been kinda absent in these last two chapters, but these really needed to be exposition heavy. Toothless will play a bigger role in the chapters to come, don't worry. I've got some interesting stuff planned for he and Hiccup to (mentally) wrestle over. **


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